Claudia Bartlett

Producer / Designer

The last chapter of her autobiography, “The Claudie Story”, written when Claudia was 11, was titled ‘Encore’.

“A few weeks ago, Mum took me to the Capitol Theatre to see Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. I loved the theatre with it’s twinkling stars in the ceiling and statues and gargoyles around the walls. I loved the feeling of excitement when the curtain rose and the dancing begun. I turned to Mum and said, “This is what I want to do.” Mum said, “Really? Do you know that these dancers perform every day for weeks here in Sydney before the whole ballet troupe moves to Melbourne or another city and does the same there and on and on it goes.” I looked at Mum and smiled, “I know” I said.”

Claudia was once a child, desperately keen to perform, with a dream as big as only a kid can imagine. How many children in Auckland share that dream today? How many adults can recall when they thought this way?

Claudia, known commonly as Claudie, had a lot of interests growing up. Tennis, double dutch skipping, gymnastics, surf life saving, softball, debating, violin and piano (to name a few), and still managed to fit in her biggest commitment—six days a week dedicated to ballet. She trained in both RAD ballet and American Jazz to advanced level—dancing and performing in numerous musicals, events and competitions throughout her teenage years, both in Sydney and Auckland. Claudie was one of the founding members of ACSA (Auckland City School of the Arts) and a competitor with their senior competition team.

Upon leaving school Claudie studied Communication Design at AUT, gaining a scholarship to Champlain College in Vermont, USA for her second year. After graduating she worked for a year in Vermont at Fuse Marketing, a leading agency that specialises in teen and young adult marketing. She was the youngest staff member and the only female in the design team. During her time there, she worked on campaigns and large scale events for major brands including Starbucks, Amazon & Pepsi.

Claudie spent four years as an invaluable member of the design team at misterwolf—a creative studio formed by the team that founded Saatchi & Saatchi Design Worldwide. Over this period her artistic eye and creative talents benefitted a broad spectrum of clients, being integral to a number of rebrands and business proposals. Claudie was able to make a significant contribution to a project developed by The Chartwell Trust, 'Squiggla'—a tool that helps people of all ages develop creative thinking skills through the power of mark-making.

For the past few years, Claudie has been working full time alongside her Encore commitments, until very recently when she made the decision to take a break and focus solely on Encore. Claudie has become more and more involved with the production design, illustrating the backdrops for 'Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella' and 'Seussical', creating dozens of 2D Dr-Seuss-like props, and assisting Leoni with many of the craft-based costumes, justifying the need for crochet in every production!
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Claudie is thrilled to combine her childhood dream with her career—bringing together knowledge and skill from personal experience to create something really special. She loves being able to create such a unique and fun experience for every single Encore performer.

Claudia Bartlett

Producer / Designer

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